Written by Alex Koslow at The Sports Quotient
Another season is in the books and we saw the Alabama Crimson Tide win another championship. While few will doubt that Alabama is the best team in the country, the debate for best conference rages on.
College football fans can never seem to agree on which conference is the toughest, and instead seem to stick up for their team’s conference. And these fans typically use every statistic imaginable to argue their case. It’s time to try and set the record straight. The following statistics will show just how the Power 5 conferences stand:
Teams in the Final AP Top 25
Big 10: 6
SEC: 5
Big 12: 4
ACC: 3
Pac 12: 3
The first statistic that fans are quick to point out is the number of teams in the APTop 25. Everyone gets obsessed with rankings, and for good reason; it shows the strength of a team and compares them to the rest of the country at any given point. Rankings also show which conference is producing top quality teams. This season the Big 10 has the most teams in the final rankings with six, including three in the top 10. The ACC, SEC, and Pac 12 claim the top three teams in the final poll, with the highest ranking Big 10 school being Ohio State at fourth. The highest ranked Big 12 team is Oklahoma at fifth.
Bowl Record and Winning Percentage
SEC: (9-2) .818
Pac 12: (6-4) .600
Big 10: (5-5) .500
Big 12: (3-4) .429
ACC: (5-7) .417
Last season, pundits crucified the SEC for having a less than impressive bowl record, with many thinking that it signaled the end of the SEC reign and the start of a new conference at the top of college football. That didn’t last long. The SEC sent 10 teams to bowl games, and set a record for most bowl wins with nine, including two in theCFP. With Ohio State winning the national championship last season, many thought the Big 10 would be the new power conference, but the Big 10 was 5-5 this season in bowl games. The Big 12 and ACC improved their winning percentage from last season despite having losing records this year.
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